Door latches

I have a 1996 Jeep Cherokee, 4 door. We use it for a winter vehicle. At the end of last winter when I parked it all the door handles were working fine. ( would open from the in/outside). While preparing it for winter use this fall (2) of the outside door buttons pushed into the door. (So I thought an easy fix, 2 new handles and I would be good????) WRONG

Upon replacing one of the handles I found the rods to be seized. After hours of oiling and working them free, I still can't get the door to open for the outside ( with just the rod or the handle) and now when you try to open it from the inside handle you have to work the lock back and forth to get the door to open. Using the key to unlock it does not help. Its almost like when I pull the inside handle it locks the door again.

Does anyone know if there is a return spring in the latch thats causing this or the latch itself wears out? Anyone with any experience with this if you could please chime in. I was going to go to a pick and pull and get a new latch but if there is a quick fix for the existing one I would rather do that..


thanks